Tesco ordered to pay €6k to former Paralympian for not allowing guide dog into stores
A blind Paralympic athlete who has taken a number of successful discrimination cases against businesses who stopped her and her guide dog from entering their premises has secured €6,000 compensation from Tesco.The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ruled the supermarket giant had breached the Equal Status Act 2000 by discriminating against former Paralympian, Nadine Lattimore, over three incidents at different branches when staff from a security company working for Tesco told her she could not bring a dog into the store.The WRC ordered Tesco to pay Ms Latimore compensation of €6,000 over its failure to provide her with reasonable accommodation. It directed the supermarket chain to put in place measures to ensure that any subcontractor staff were trained in their obligations regarding compliance with the Equal Status Act 2000.The WRC also directed Tesco to measure the compliance of subcontractor staff with those provisions and to display “Guide Dogs & Assistance Dogs Welcome” signage at the entrance to all their stories.However, the WRC rejected two further claims of discrimination on grounds of disability made by Ms Lattimore who competed in track and field events for Ireland in the Paralympics in London in 2012.The WRC heard that Ms Lattimore was questioned by security staff working for OCS Group Ireland during visits to three different Tesco outlets last year. They were the stores in Adamstown on June 3, 2024; the store at Spencer Dock on July 16, 2024; and the store on Parnell Street on July 16, 2024.Lawyers for Tesco denied the company had discriminated against Ms Lattimore and claimed its staff had made respectful inquiries about the status of the dog which was accompanying her into the stores.They also pointed out that the complainant was immediately accommodated when it was clear she was with a guide dog and she had not been prevented from obtaining goods and services made available by Tesco.Evidence In evidence, Ms Lattimore claimed that on each occasion she was clearly identifiable as a blind person as she was with her guide dog who was wearing equipment supplied by the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.The WRC heard that Ms Lattimore was approached by OCS security staff who supervised the common areas of the shopping centre in Adamstown and who are not under the control of Tesco.Tesco claimed its own manager of its Adamstown outlet informed an OCS security guard who had approached him about Ms Lattimore and her dog that they were entitled to be in the store. It accepted that a security guard hired by OCS working in its Spencer Dock branch had not noticed the dog’s high-vis markings. However, Tesco said the store manager had apologised to Ms Lattimore after he clearly recognised that she was being accompanied by her guide dog.The WRC heard evidence that a similar incident occurred at the Tesco Metro branch on Parnell Street, Dublin.WRC ruling WRC adjudication officer, Patricia Owens, said she was struck by how witnesses for Tesco could not describe any system for monitoring the compliance of OCS staff with its policies. Ms Owens said all three incidents had been resolved by the intervention of Tesco’s own staff.She acknowledged that Tesco had a clear policy in place about customers with guide dogs and that the company had made considerable efforts to familiarise its own staff with the terms of the policy.However, Ms Owens said it was abundantly clear that there were no measures in place to monitor the performance of OCS staff in relation to the same policy.She said Ms Lattimore’s inability to get clear answers from Tesco about its procedures for addressing complaints with OCS was a fatal flaw in the company’s view that it was not vicariously liable for the actions of contract security staff.
